Operation Don’t Suck – Getting Rid Of Big Numbers.

Memorial Day weekend afforded me the chance to get out and play 18 holes for the first time in about 2.5 weeks – thus explainin my lack of Operation Don’t Suck (ODS) posts. I haven’t even been to the range in that timeframe so I was a bit wary of how it would all go Sunday morning.

I’m happy to report that it went better than expected. I posted my best score of the year (91) and carded six pars. I continue to be pleased with how I’m striking my irons (save for a few shots) and actually didn’t allow my driver to hurt me more than a few times.

The thorn in my side Sunday morning was the inexplicable way I let big numbers creep into my round. On both sides, I posted two triple bogeys. That’s 12 of my 20 over right there. Translated – that’s inexcusable.

Here is the quick anatomy of the four triple bogeys I put together Sunday morning…

The first hole of the day – a wayward tee shot to the right that left me behind trees, a punch that hit the trees, a poor iron shot to the left of the fairway, a wedge on and a three putt. A bad hole, but the first hole of the day, I hoped to turn things around.

The third hole (a Par 5) – a solid tee shot that found the left rough, an okay 2nd shot, a third shot that I caught a bit fat but landed in the fairway 56 yards from the green, a chip shot uglier than Nicholas Cage’s recent acting career, a duff chip that landed in the sand, an escape and two putts. To sum it up — if you’re lying three 56 yards from the green in the fairway – you can’t make 8.

The 15th hole (a long Par 5) – A beautiful tee shot on a hole that demands a tough tee shot, then (the dumbest swing of the day) a three wood that I let slice to the right and out of bounds, a penalty stroke, a pop up four iron, an 8 iron short of the green, a chip on, two putts. In retrospect – a mental mistake killed me and I let it impact my next couple swings.

The 16th hole – There’s no triple bogey that I can live with, but the 16th is a challenging Par 3 and I simply lost my first shot out of bounds. I reteed and made a respectable 4 after the costly penalty stroke.

So there you have it, four holes that each could have been eons better and a round that could have been my first in the 80s of the year. Hopefully, that will happen next weekend.

I’m curious though — how do you deal with big numbers on your scorecard? What mental tricks do you use to forget them and move on? Post below